O’Connell first studied plant hopper insects, which communicate through sound waves that travel through plant stems or leaves. Then, while working at a national park in Namibia during a gap year after her master’s program, she noticed elephants might be doing something similar. It took a decade to prove that elephants communicate with seismic rumbles, and now more sophisticated tools are allowing scientists to start decoding their meaning. Researchers have revealed that elephants are using something akin to vowels and even calling one another by name. “We’re really at the forefront of some breakthroughs here.”